Facebook building cryptocurrency system - WSJ

How to finally make cryptocurrency mainstream?

Use it on Facebook.

That's the plan - according to The Wall Street Journal - which reports that the social media giant is in talks with dozens of financial firms and online merchants to build a digital coin payments system for its site and platforms across the Web.

Unlike the volatile bitcoin, Facebook's digital coin would be backed by actual government currency.

To that end, it is seeking total investments of about $1 billion - and is speaking to Visa, MasterCard and payments processors First Data, the Journal reports.

Facebook is also talking to online merchants and apps - the pitch being that those sites would get a break on processing fees collected by banks.

Creating a new digital coin may be an uphill climb, given the skepticism that still surrounds cryptocurrency and Facebook's privacy woes.

But Facebook does have more than one billion users who buy stuff.

The plan reportedly also entails using cryptocurrency as a type of rewards system for users who click on ads, giving them the opportunity to accrue digital coins by doing so, much like loyalty points gained at retailers.

A digital payment system - especially one that could be used across multiple sites, similar to Facebook's login credentials - would further entrench Facebook into the lives of its users by reaching into their finances, much like rivals Apple and Amazon.